Formwork element

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to a formwork element which is specially designed for the construction of walls and similar. The formwork element comprises a hollow rectangular primatic block or body ( 1 ′) which is open at the lower and upper faces thereof and which is made from expanded polystyrene foam or another similar material. The edges of the aforementioned faces are provided with numerous small rectangular prismatic projections ( 3 ) in the form of cubes which define therebetween similarly-configured housings ( 4 ), the projections on the upper face being offset in relation to those on the lower face. In this way, when the bodies are stacked such that they are offset lengthways, a tongue-and-groove connection is created therebetween, ensuring optimum stability. Numerous bodies ( 1 ′) can be stacked to produce a level chamber which is closed at the inner and outer faces thereof and which can receive a mass of reinforced concrete forming the resistant element of the wall. According to the invention, the vertical reinforcements pass through openings ( 6 ) in the smaller lateral walls ( 5 ) thereof.

PURPOSE OF THE INVENTION

This invention refers to a formwork element which is especially designedfor the construction of both interior and exterior walls, and for bothone-storey and multi-storey buildings.

Said element allows an easy and fast assembly, which can be cut in orderto adequate its dimensions to certain practical requirements.

The formwork element is designed for the obtention of concrete walls,appropriately reinforced, wherein the pipes or ducts for variousservices are embedded, with the special feature that said element givesto the walls a high insulation coefficient, both thermal and acoustic.

The formwork element is useful for industrial buildings, houses,condominiums, garages, swimming pools, cold chambers, etc.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

As is well-known, within the wide range of possibilities thatpresent-day technology offers for the construction of walls, onesolution consists of making said walls with reinforced concrete, pouringthe concrete “in situ”, after shaping the appropriate formwork.

In general, these formworks consist of metal plates, appropriatelyrigidified, which are interconnected forming two parallel verticalplanes, appropriately connected by means of spacers, in such a way thatonce the formwork has been duly configured, the required metalframeworks are introduced therein and it is finally concreted.

This solution makes it possible the obtention of walls with a highsolidity, which nevertheless exhibit various problems. In this regard:

-   -   In order for the building or construction in question to be        solidly finished, its various walls must be linked together by        means of said metal frameworks and the concrete must be poured        only once, which requires the use of a large formwork surface,        i.e. a large number of reinforced metal plates, which entails        considerable investment costs and the handling of large amounts        of very heavy material.    -   In most cases the formwork plates, which have a modular        structure, are not suited to the required practical measures, so        that the formwork must be completed either by means of        custom-made plates, with the ensuing cost increase, or else by        means of fortuitous lower-cost solutions, such as, for example,        custom-cut wood planks, which adversely affect the structural        resistance of the entire formwork, as well as the construction's        aesthetic finishing.    -   Even though these formworks make it possible to incorporate all        types of ducts and pipes, such as, for example, wastewater        drainage ducts, sanitary water pipes, electric conduits, etc.,        significant problems arise in connecting these conduits with the        exterior, since the formworks′ high cost does not make it        possible to create orifices therein in order to access said        conduits.    -   Even though the obtained wall offers high mechanic resistance,        it has a very low insulation coefficient, both from the thermal        point of view and the acoustic point of view.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The formwork element proposed by the invention resolves in a fullysatisfactory manner the aforementioned problems, since it constitutes alost element designed to definitively form part of the wall obtainedthereby, and, due to its own nature, it incorporates its thermal andacoustic insulation characteristics to said wall. Moreover, it is easilyfrangible or capable of being cut in order to suit its dimensions to thepractical requirements of each case and to create orifices or windowstherein in order to access the interior ducts.

To this end, and more specifically, said formwork element ismaterialised in a body that is essentially rectangular-prismatic, madeof expanded polystyrene foam or other material with similarcharacteristics. It is a hollow body that is open at its facesandprovided with internal rigidifying partitions, with the special featurethat said body incorporates a plurality of small projections, alsorectangular-prismatic, on the periphery of said faces, with a staggereddistribution, which define equally-configured housings between oneanother, so that the projections or cubes on the upper face are oppositethe housings on the lower face, which makes it possible to achieve ahigh solid tongue-and-groove connection between them uponsuperimposition of the bodies.

These rectangular-prismatic elements or bodies exhibit a length that issignificantly greater than the height and width, so that walls may beconstructed in rows, in a manner similar to conventional constructionblocks or bricks, the bodies in each row remaining longitudinally offsetwith respect to the rows located immediately above and below, so that,in turn, these bodies maintain a staggered distribution on the wallwhich ensures a perfect relative stability for all of them, and which,moreover, allows for “keying” between the walls on the corners or “T”connections.

In any case, the union of the appropriate number of formwork elements,in a co-planar arrangement, and according to the specific requirementsof each case, entails obtaining two parallel formwork surfaces, whichare perfectly enclosed and continuous, and between which an interiorconcrete-receiving housing is created, which may be poured therein byany conventional method and which ensures that the mass of concreteextends in one piece to the entire wall or walls of the concernedbuilding or construction, where it is also possible, moreover, tointroduce vertical metal frameworks therein which jointly emerge fromthe foundations.

When horizontal frameworks are also needed, the blocks in certainalignments will be provided with wide indentations on the smaller sidewalls through which said frameworks will pass.

The nature of the material comprising these formwork elements, which, asalready mentioned, is expanded polystyrene foam, incorporates itsthermal and acoustic insulation characteristics to the enclosure, aswell as being easy to cut, using a simple saw or any other appropriatetool, both for the production of finish parts or elements withnon-standard dimensions and for the creation of orifices or windows onthe larger walls for the passage of, or access to, ducts and pipes, ifnecessary. To this end, these elements incorporate grooves or marks onthe side walls which facilitate the cutting.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In order to complement the description being made and to contribute to abetter understanding of the characteristics of the invention, accordingto a preferred example of practical embodiment thereof, we attach, asintegral part of said description, a set of drawings which, with anillustrative and non-limiting character, represent the following:

FIG. 1.—It shows, according to a schematic perspective representation, aformwork element made in accordance with the object of this invention.

FIG. 2.—It shows, by means of a representation similar to that of FIG.1, another formwork element especially designed to allow implementationof horizontal metal frameworks on the wall that is to be produced.

FIG. 3.—It shows, by means of a representation similar to the precedingfigures, another formwork element with openings on one of its ends only,which may be used as a closure element where the horizontal frameworkends.

FIG. 4.—It shows, also by means of a perspective view, a partial detailof a wall made with formwork elements according to the invention, in aphase prior to the concreting phase.

FIG. 5.—It shows, finally, a longitudinal section detail of an entirelyfinished wall.

FIG. 6.—It shows another detail of the same wall, in this case incross-section.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION

In view of the above-mentioned figures, one can see how the formworkelement proposed by the invention is constituted by a rectangularprismatic body (1), for instance, with external dimensions similar tothose of a classic construction block, but with the special feature thatit is entirely made of hollow, expanded polystyrene foam, open at boththe upper and lower faces, and preferably provided with rigidifyinginterior and transverse partitions (2), whose height is significantlylower than that of the body itself (1).

These elements may be interconnected by tonguing-and-grooving, as shownin FIG. 2, for which purpose, on the perimeter of the upper and lowerfaces, and as an extension of the considerably thick perimeter wall,they exhibit a plurality of small rectangular-prismatic projections (3)in the form of die, which have a staggered distribution and which createhousings (4) between one another, which formally and dimensionallycoincide with the housings, but there is an offset between the upper andlower faces, so that, when the bodies (1) are stacked, the projectionsor die (3) of one remain opposite and finally embedded in the other'shousings (4), in order to achieve the desired tongue-and-groove effect,which offers high solidity in the co-planar fixing between blocks.

The block may exhibit four side walls of the same height, as shown inFIG. 1, or else the smaller lateral walls (5) may be affected by wideindentations (6), as is the case with block (1′) shown in FIG. 2, sothat, while in the first case it is only possible to provide verticalmetal frameworks, which pass through the modules or elements (1)interior cavities, in the second case, horizontal frameworks may also beprovided, specifically located on the indentations (6).

These indentations (6) define longitudinal grooves on the wall for eachrow obtained by means of bodies (1′) of this type, which naturally mustbe closed at the end, for which this purpose, the existence of bodies(1″) such as the one shown in FIG. 3 has been anticipated, withindentations (6) on only one of the smaller side walls (5), while theother one acts as a closure element, exhibiting a height that coincideswith that of the larger side walls.

In any case, after the coupling between bodies or modules (1), (1′),(1″), and as shown in FIGS. 4, 5, and 6, the larger walls of the bodies(1) create an integral enclosure which corresponds to the internal andexternal faces of the wall, forming a continuous chamber, closed at thelower end by the floor (7), which is undeformable through the smallerside walls (5) and the interior rigidifying partitions (2) of theprismatic bodies (1), (1′), (1″), a chamber which will subsequently befilled with a mass of concrete (8), which, together with the metalframeworks, grants the wall the appropriate structural rigidity, saidmass of concrete (8), however, remaining completely insulated from boththe exterior and the interior of the wall, so that, despite its highdegree of conductivity, it does not act as a thermal bridge, the largerside walls of the various bodies or modules (1), (1′), (1″) defining,respectively, an internal and external barrier to both thermal andacoustic transmission.

Prior to the pouring of the concrete in the hollow chamber of theformwork, ducts may be provided therein, such as the downpipe (9) shownin FIG. 4, electric conduits (10), etc., with side accesses (11) and(12) towards the internal or the external face of the wall, which areeasily implemented on the formwork due to its own nature, since theexpanded polystyrene foam may be easily cut with a saw or anyappropriate cutting tool.

The wall will be completed with any exterior (13) or interior (14)coating, made of any adequate material, in order to provide it with anyfinishing, such as, for instance, face bricks, plaster, tiles, boarding,wallpaper, etc.

1. Formwork element which, being especially designed for the obtentionof reinforced concrete walls, is characterised in that it has arectangular-prismatic (1) body, made of hollow, expanded polystyrenefoam or other similar material, open at the upper and lower faces,provided with multiple small projections (3) on the periphery of saidfaces which have the form of die and a staggered distribution and whichdefine equally formed housings (4) between one another, the projectionson the upper face being offset with respect to those of the lower face,in order to achieve a multiple tongue-and-groove coupling uponsuperimposition of the bodies (1).
 2. Formwork element, according toclaim 1, characterised in that said prismatic body (1) has internalrigidifying partitions (2), preferably of a height substantially smallerthan that of the body itself (1).
 3. Formwork element, according toclaims 1 and 2, characterised in that the prismatic body (1′)incorporates wide indentations (6) on the edges of its smaller sidewalls (5), when said body (1′) is designed to become a part of rows onthe wall whereon it is necessary to create horizontal metal frameworks.4. Formwork element, according to claim 3, characterised in that theprismatic bodies (1″) designed to occupy the end positions on said rowswhich receive the horizontal metal frameworks, exhibit indentations (6)on only one of the smaller side walls, while the other, the terminalone, is closed.
 5. Formwork element, according to claim 4, characterisedby the fact that it constitutes a lost element, designed to indefinitelybecome a part of the corresponding wall, to which it confers the thermaland acoustic insulation characteristics derived from its own nature. 6.Formwork element, according to claim 4, characterised by the fact thatit is capable of housing therein, in addition to the said vertical andhorizontal frameworks, pipes and conduits for auxiliary services such aswater, electricity, or other, which are laterally accessible by cuttingthe corresponding prismatic body's wall.